Microscopic end

今天夜里，人类将试图击破夸克。

这个壮举将在位于罗布泊的东方核子中心完成。核子中心看上去只是沙漠中一群优雅的白色建筑，巨大的加速器建在沙漠地下深处的隧道中，加速器的周长有150公里。在附近专门建了一座100万千瓦的核电厂为加速器供电，但要完成今天的试验还远远不够，只能从西北电网临时调来电力。今天，加速器将把粒子加速到10的20次方电子伏特，这是宇宙大爆炸开始时的能量，是万物创生时的能量，在这难以想象的能量下，目前已知的物质最小单位夸克将被撞碎，人类将窥见物质世界最深层的秘密。

核子中心的控制大厅中人不多，其中有目前世界上最杰出的两位理论物理学家，他们代表着目前对物质深层结构研究的两个不同的学派。其中之一是美国人赫尔曼·琼斯，他认为夸克是物质的最小单位，不可能被击破；另一位是中国人丁仪，他的理论认为物质无限可分。控制大厅中还有负责加速器运行的总工程师，以及为数不多的几名记者。其他众多的工作人员都在地下深处的几十间分控室内，控制大厅只能看到综合后的数据。这里最让人惊奇的人物是一位叫迪夏提的哈萨克族牧羊老人，他的村庄就在核子中心加速器的圆周内，在昨天的野餐中，物理学家们吃了他的烤全羊，并坚持把他请来。他们认为这个物理学的伟大时刻，也是全人类的伟大时刻，所以应该有一个最不懂物理学的人到场。

加速器已经启动，大显示屏上的能量曲线像刚苏醒的蚯蚓一样懒洋洋地爬着，向标志着临界能量的红线升去，那就是击碎夸克所需的能量。

“电视为什么不转播？”丁仪指着大厅一角的一台电视机问，电视中正转播着一场人山人海的足球赛。这位物理学家从北京到这儿一直身着一件蓝工作服，很容易被误认为是勤杂工。

“丁博士，我们并非世界中心，试验结果出来后，能出一条30秒的小新闻就不错了。”总工程师说。

“麻木，难以置信的麻木。”丁仪摇摇头说。

“但这是生存之必须。”琼斯说，他一副颓废派打扮，头发老长，还不时从衣袋中掏出一个银制酒瓶喝一口。“我很不幸地不麻木，所以难以生存下去。”他说着掏出了一张纸，在空中晃着，“先生们，这是我的遗书。”

语惊四座，记者们立刻围着了琼斯。

“这个试验结束后，物质世界将不再有什么可以探索的秘密。物理学将在一个小时内完结！我是来迎接自己世界的末日，我的物理学啊，你这个冷酷的情人，你穷尽之后我如何活得下去！”

丁仪不以为然地说：“这话在牛顿时代和爱因斯坦时代都有人说过，比如20世纪的马克斯·玻恩和史蒂芬·霍金，但物理学并没有结束，将来也不会结束。您很快就会看到，夸克将被击破，我们在通向无的阶梯上又踏上一节。我是来迎接自己世界的早晨！”

“您这是抄袭毛泽东的理论，丁博士，他在20世纪50年代就提出物质无限可分的思想了。”琼斯反唇相讥。

“你们过分沉湎于自己的思想了。”总工程师插进来说，“通过阳光同一时刻在埃及和希腊的干井中不同的投影，可以推测出地球是圆的，甚至由此可以计算出它的直径，但只有麦哲伦的旅行才是真正激动人心的。你们这些理论物理学家以前只是待在井里，今天我们才要在微观世界做真正的环球航行！”

大屏幕上，能量曲线接近了那条红线。外面的世界似乎觉察到了这沙漠深处涌动的巨大能量，一群鸟儿从红柳丛中惊飞，在夜空中久久盘旋，远方传来阵阵狼叫……终于，能量曲线越过了红线，加速器中的粒子已获得了撞击夸克所需的能量，这是人类有史以来所获得的最高能量的粒子。控制计算机立刻把这些超能粒子引出了加速器周长150公里的环道，进入一条支线，以接近光速的速度向靶标飞去。在这极限能量的轰击下，靶标立刻迸发出一场粒子辐射的暴雨。无数个传感器睁大眼睛盯着这场暴雨，它们能在一瞬间分辨出暴雨中几个颜色稍有不同的雨滴，正是从这几个雨滴的组合中，超级计算机将判断出是否发生了撞击夸克的事件，并进一步判断夸克是否被撞碎。

超能粒在源源不断地产生，加速器中的撞击在持续，人们在紧张地等待着。超能粒子击中夸克的概率是很小的，他们不知道要等多长时间。

“哦，来自远方的朋友们，”迪夏提老人打破沉默，“十多年前，这些东西开始修建时我就在这里。那时工地上有上万人，钢铁和水泥堆得像山一样高，还有几百个像大楼一样高的线圈，他们告诉我那是电磁铁……我不明白，这样多的钱和物，这样多的人力，能灌溉多少沙漠，使那里长满葡萄和哈密瓜，可你们干的事情，谁都不明白。”

“迪夏提大爷，我们在寻求物质世界最深的秘密，这比什么都重要！”丁仪说。

“我没有读过多少书，但我知道，你们这些世界上最有学问的人，在找世界上最小的沙粒。”

哈萨克老牧人对粒子物理出色的定义使在场所有的人都兴奋起来。

“妙极了！”琼斯在得到翻译后叫起来，“他认为，”他指指丁仪，“沙粒要多小就有多小；而我认为，存在最小的沙粒，这粒沙子不能再小了，用最强有力的锤都不可能砸碎它。尊敬的迪夏提大爷，您认为我们谁对呢？”

迪夏提在听完翻译后摇了摇头，“我不知道，你们也不可能知道，世界万物究竟是怎么回事，凡人哪能搞清呢？”

“这么说，您是一位不可知论者？”丁仪问。

老牧人饱经风霜的双眼沉浸在梦幻和回忆中，“世界真让人想不出啊！从小，我就赶着羊群在无边的戈壁沙漠中寻找青草。多少个夜晚，我和羊群躺在野外，看着满天的星星。那些星星密密麻麻的啊，晶亮晶亮的啊，像姑娘黑发中的宝石；夜不深时，身下的戈壁还是热的，轻风一阵阵的，像它的呼吸……这时世界是活的，就像一个熟睡的大娃娃。这时不用耳朵，而用心听，你就能听到一个声音，那声音充满天地之间，那是神的声音，只有他才知道世界究竟是怎么回事。”

这时，蜂鸣器刺耳地响了，这是发生夸克撞击事件的信号，人们都转向大屏幕，物理学的最后审判日到了，人类争论了3000年的问题马上就会有答案。

超级计算机的分析数据如洪水般在屏幕上涌出，两位理论物理学家马上发现事情不对，他们困惑地摇摇头。

结果并没有显示夸克被撞碎，但也没有显示它保持完整，试验数据完全不可理解。

突然，有人惊叫了一声，那是迪夏提，这里只有他对大屏幕上撞击夸克的数据不感兴趣，仍站在窗边。“天啊，外面怎么了，你们快过来看啊！”

“迪夏提大爷，请别打扰我们！”总工程师不耐烦地说。但迪夏提的另一句话使所有人都转过身来。

“天……天怎么了！！”

一片白光透进窗来，大厅中的人们向外看去，他们不相信自己的眼睛：整个夜空变成了乳白色！人们冲出了大厅，外面，在广阔的戈壁之上，乳白色的苍穹发着柔和的白光，像一片牛奶海洋，地球仿佛处于一个巨大的白色蛋壳的中心！当人们的双眼适应了这些时，他们发现乳白色的天空中有一群群的小黑点，仔细观察了那些黑点的位置后，他们真要发疯了。

“神啊，那些黑点……是星星！！”夏迪提喊出了每个人都看到但又不敢相信的结论。

他们在看着宇宙的负片。

震惊之中，有人从窗外注意到了大厅中的那台正在转播球赛的电视机，屏幕上的情形证明了他们不是在做梦：千里之外的体育场也笼罩在一片白光中，看台上的几万人都惊恐地仰望着天空……

“这事什么时候发生的？”首先镇静下来的总工程师问。

“刚才里面那个鸣声响起来的时候。”夏迪提说。

人们沉默了，他们把目光都集中到琼斯和丁仪身上，希望这两位自爱因斯坦以来最杰出的物理学家，能对眼前这噩梦般的现实做出哪怕一点点的解释。

两位物理学家已不看天空了，他们在低头沉思着。丁仪首先抬起头来仰望着乳白色的宇宙，长长地出了一口气。

“我们早该想到的。”

琼斯也抬起头来，望着丁仪：“是的，这就是超统一理论方程中那个变量的含义！”

“你们在说什么？！”总工程师喊道。

“工程师，我们的环球航行成功了！”丁仪笑着说。

“你是说，我们的试验导致了这一切？！”

“事实正是！”琼斯说，同时掏出了那个银酒瓶，“现在麦哲伦知道了，地球是圆的。”

“圆……的？！”其他的人都困惑地看着两位物理学家。

“地球是圆的，从其表面任一点一直向前走，就会回到原点。现在我们知道了宇宙的时空形状，很类似，我们一直向微观的深层走，当走到微观尽头时，就回到了整个宏观。加速器刚才击穿了物质最小的结构，于是其力量作用到最大的结构上，把整个宇宙反转了。”琼斯解释说。

丁仪说：“琼斯博士，您可以活下去了，物理学没有完结，才刚刚开始，就像人类知道地球形状后，地理学刚刚开始一样。我们都错了，要说最接近事实的论述，是夏迪斯大爷刚才做出的，我虽不相信神，但宇宙之深奥之神奇远远超过我们的想象。”

“我想起来了，20世纪，英国人阿瑟·克拉克在科幻小说中提出过宇宙负片的概念，但谁会想到它成为现实呢？”

“可现在怎么办？”总工程师问。

“现在很好，我很乐意生活在负片宇宙中，它和反转前的同样美，不是吗？”琼斯喝干了瓶中的酒，微醉着伸开双臂拥抱整个新宇宙。

“可你们看……”总工程师从窗口指了指大厅里的电视，体育场里惊恐的骚动在加剧，一种集体的歇斯底里在人海中蔓延开来。从这个画面上可以想象，整个人类世界正陷入混乱之中。

“继续轰击靶标。”丁仪对总工程师说。在第一次夸克撞击事件发生后，为了分析结果，控制计算机已中止了超能粒子对靶标的轰击。

“你疯了？鬼知道第二次夸克撞击事件会产生什么效应？也许会造成宇宙坍缩或大爆炸！”

“不会的！前面的现象已证明了超统一方程的正确，我们知道下一次撞击会发生什么。”琼斯说。

加速器中的超能粒子再次被引向靶标，人们期待着粒子的暴雨中那几滴不同颜色雨点的出现。

1分钟，2分钟……10分钟……

各种曲线和数据在大屏幕上懒洋洋地滚动着，什么都没发生。

电视屏幕上，体育场中的人海已失去了控制，在乳白色的天空下，人们无目标地乱撞，互相践踏……图像抖动了一下，电视信号中断了，屏幕上只有一片荒漠一样的雪花。宇宙的突变超出了人类所有的知识和想象，超出了他们的精神承受力，世界处于疯狂的边缘。

蜂鸣器第二次响了，夸克第二次被击中。

没有任何预兆，比眨眼的速度更快，宇宙再次被反转，漆黑的夜空，晶莹的星群，人类的宇宙又回来了。

“天啊，你们在干神的事！”迪夏提大爷说。核子中心的人们这时都聚集在外面的戈壁滩上，聚集在醉人的星空下。

“是的，对物质本原的不懈探索使我们拥有了上帝的力量，这真是做梦都想不到的。”琼斯说。

“但我们仍是人，谁知道以后还会发生什么呢？”丁仪说。

夜空中，群星灿烂，那听不见的乐曲充满整个宇宙。

“神啊……”迪夏提大爷对着星空伏下身来。

Tonight, humans will attempt to crack quarks. The feat will be performed at the Oriental Nuclear Center in Lop Nur. The nuclear center appears to be nothing more than an elegant cluster of white buildings in the desert, with giant accelerators built in tunnels deep beneath the desert, measuring 150 kilometers in circumference. A one megawatt nuclear power plant was built nearby to power the accelerator, but it was not enough to complete today's tests, which had to be temporarily diverted from the northwest grid. Today, the accelerator will accelerate the particle to 10 to the power of 20 electron volts, the energy at the beginning of the Big Bang, the energy at the time of creation, at this unimaginable energy, the smallest known unit of matter, the quark, will be smashed, revealing the deepest secrets of the physical world. The control room at the nuclear center is sparsely populated, with two of the world's most prominent theoretical physicists, representing two different schools of thought that are currently studying the deep structure of matter. One was Herman Jonnes, an American who believed that quarks were the smallest unit of matter and could not be broken down; the other was Ding Yi, a Chinese who theorized that matter was infinitely divisible. The control room also houses the chief engineer, who runs the accelerator, and a handful of journalists. Many other staff are deep underground in dozens of sub-control room, control room only to see the integrated data. One of the most surprising people here is an old goat herder named Kazakhs, whose village lies within the circle of the nuclear accelerator. At yesterday's picnic, physicists ate his roasted whole sheep, and insisted on bringing him in. They think this is a great moment for physics, a great moment for all of humanity, so there should be one person who knows the least about physics. The accelerator was on, and the energy curve on the big screen slithered lazily like a waking earthworm toward the red line that marked the critical energy needed to smash the quarks. "Why isn't it on TV?" Ding Yi asked, pointing to a television set in the corner of the hall that was showing a People Mountain People Sea soccer game. The physicist, who has been wearing a blue smock from Beijing to the city, could easily be mistaken for a handyman. "We're not the center of the world, Dr. Ding," said the chief engineer. "We'll be lucky to get a 30-second piece of news when the results come back.". "Numb, unbelievably numb," Ding Yi said, shaking his head. "but it's a necessity for survival," said Jonnes, dressed in a decadent garb, with long hair and a silver flask from his pocket for a drink. "I'm unfortunately not numb, so I can't survive," he said, taking out a piece of paper and dangling it in the air. "gentlemen, this is my suicide note." The reporters immediately gathered around Jonnes. "when this experiment is over, the physical world will have no more secrets to explore. Physics will be over in an hour! I have come to meet the end of my world, my physics, you cruel lover, how can I live after you have exhausted it!" Said Ding Yi disapprovingly. "this was said in Newton's time and in Einstein's time, such as the Max Born and Stephen Hawking of the 20th century, but physics is not over, and will not be over. As you will soon see, the quarks will be broken, and we will have another step on the ladder to nothingness. I have come to greet the morning of my own world!" Jonnes retorted. "you are copying Mao Zedong's theory, Dr. Ting, who in the 1950s put forward the idea that matter is infinitely divisible.". "you are too absorbed in your own thoughts," interposed the chief engineer, "from the different projections of sunlight in the dry wells of Egypt and Greece at the same time, it can be inferred that the earth is round and even its diameter can be calculated, but only Magallanes's journey is truly exciting. You theoretical physicists used to just stay in the well, but today we're going to do a real round-the-world voyage in the microscopic world!" The energy curve approximates the red line. The outside world seemed to sense a great surge of energy in the depths of the desert, a flock of birds flying from the Red Willows, circling in the night sky for a long time, the distant sound of wolves... Finally, the energy curve crossed the red line, the particles in the accelerator have acquired the energy needed to hit the quark, the highest energy particle ever achieved. The control computer immediately guided the particles out of the 150 kilometer ring around the accelerator, into a spur, and toward the target at nearly the speed of light. Under this extreme energy bombardment, the target immediately unleashes a storm of particle radiation. Millions of sensors keep an eye on the storm, and they can tell in a split second that several raindrops of slightly different colors are in the storm, and it's from the combination of these raindrops, the supercomputer will determine whether an impact event has occurred and, in turn, whether the quark has been smashed. The particles keep coming, the collisions in the accelerator keep going, and people are waiting nervously. The chances of a particle hitting a quark are so small, they don't know how long to wait. "Oh, friends from afar," said the old man dishatti, breaking his silence, "I was here more than a decade ago when these things started to be built. There were tens of thousands of people on the site, mountains of steel and cement, and hundreds of coils as tall as buildings, and they told me that they were electromagnets... I don't understand how much money and stuff, and so much manpower, can irrigate a desert full of grapes and cantaloupes, but none of you understand what you're doing.""Uncle Dixiati, we're seeking the deepest secrets of the material world, and that's more important than anything," Ding Yi said. "I have not read many books, but I know that you, the most learned men in the world, are looking for the smallest grains of sand in the world." The old Kazakh herdsman's excellent definition of particle physics excited everyone present. "Wonderful!" Cried Jonnes, after receiving the translation. "he thinks," he pointed to Ding Yi, "the grain of sand is as small as it can be; and I think there is the smallest grain of sand, and that grain of sand can not be smaller than it can be smashed with the most powerful hammer. Dear Dixiati, who do you think is right?" Dixiati shook his head after listening to the translation, "I don't know, and you can't possibly know, what is going on in the world, and how can one know?" Asked Ding Yi. "So you are a agnosticism?". The Old Shepherd's weather-beaten eyes were lost in dreams and memories, "the world is a strange place! Ever since I was a child, I have been searching for grass in the boundless Gobi desert with my sheep. Many a night I lay in the field with my sheep, looking at the stars. The stars, ah, ah, shiny, ah, like a girl's black hair in the jewel; late at night, under the Gobi or hot, gusty wind, like its breath... Then the world is alive, like a sleeping doll. When you listen with your heart instead of your ears, you can hear a voice that fills the space between heaven and earth. It is the voice of God, and only he knows what is going on in the world, the buzzer blaring, a signal of a quark collision, people turning to the big screen, the final day of physics, the answer to a 3,000-year-old debate. As the supercomputer's analysis flooded the screen, two theoretical physicists immediately noticed something was wrong and shook their heads in bewilderment. The results did not show that the quark had been smashed, but neither did they show that it remained intact, and the data were completely incomprehensible. Suddenly, there was a cry of surprise. It was dishatti, the only one here who wasn't interested in the data on the big screen and was still standing by the window. "My God, what's going on out there? Come and See!""uncle di Shatti, Please Don't disturb us!" said the chief engineer impatiently. But another word from dishatti caused everyone to turn around. "what... What's wrong with the sky! !" A white light came through the window, and the people in the hall looked out, and they couldn't believe their eyes: the whole sky was milky white! People rushed out of the hall, outside, in the vast gobi above, milky sky with a soft white light, like a sea of milk, the Earth seems to be in the center of a huge white eggshell! When people's eyes adjusted to this, they saw groups of small black spots in the Milky Sky. After carefully observing the locations of the black spots, they really went mad. "God, those black spots... are stars! !" Cried Shaditi, drawing conclusions that everyone saw but could not believe. They're looking at a negative of the universe. In shock, someone noticed from a window the television in the hall, which was broadcasting the game, and the scene on the screen proved that they were not dreaming: the stadium thousands of miles away was also shrouded in white light, tens of thousands of people in the stands looked up at the sky in horror... "when did this happen?" asked the chief engineer, who had first calmed down. "when that buzzer went off in there," shadti said. There was silence, and all eyes turned to Jonnes and Ding Yi, the most brilliant physicists since Einstein, for the slightest explanation of this nightmarish reality. The two physicists had stopped looking at the sky and were looking down in deep thought. Ding Yi first looked up at the milky universe and heaved a long sigh of relief. "We should have thought of that." Jonnes looked up, looking at Ding Yi, he said, "yes, that's what that variable means in the sutonymic equation!""What are you talking about? !" Shouted the chief engineer. "engineer, our round-the-world voyage is a success!" Ding Yi said with a laugh. "are you saying that our experiment caused all this? !""the fact is!" Said Jonnes, at the same time, he pulled out the silver wine bottle. "now Magallanes knows that the Earth is round.""round... ? !" The others looked at the physicists in confusion. "the Earth is round. Go straight from any point on its surface and you will come back to square one. Now that we know the shape of space-time in the universe, it's very similar, that we go all the way down to the microscopic depths, and when we get to the microscopic end, we go back to the macroscopic. The accelerator just broke through the smallest structure of matter, so its force acted on the largest structure, turning the universe upside down," Jonnes explains. "you can live, Dr. Jonnes," Ding Yi said. "physics is not over. It has only just begun, just as Geography has just begun when man learned the shape of the Earth. We are all wrong, and the closest statement to the truth is the one that Lord Chardis has just made. I don't believe in God, but the universe is much more profound and mysterious than we ever imagined." I recall that the British Arthur C. Clarke the concept of cosmic negatives in science fiction in the 20th century, but who would have thought it possible?" Asked the chief engineer. "now that's good, I'd love to live in a negative universe, it's just as beautiful as it was before the reversal, isn't it?" Jonnes drank up the bottle and stretched his arms around the entire new universe, slightly intoxicated. "but you see..." the chief engineer pointed from his window to the television in the hall, and the Panic of the stadium grew, and a collective hysteria spread through the crowd. From this picture, we can imagine that the whole human world is falling into chaos. "keep firing at the target," Ding Yi told the chief engineer. After the first quark impact event, the control computer stopped the bombardment of the target by the particles in order to analyze the results. "are you crazy? Who knows what effect a second quark impact will have? It might cause the universe to collapse or the Big Bang!"! The previous phenomena have proved the supra-unified equation right, and we know what the next impact will be," Jonnes said. Once again, the supercharged particles in the accelerator are being directed towards the target, and a few raindrops of different colors are expected to appear in the shower of particles. 1 minute, 2 minutes... 10 minutes... curves and data sloshing around on the big screen, nothing happening. On the TV screen, the crowd in the stadium was out of control. Under the Milky Sky, people were bumping and trampling each other aimlessly... the picture trembled and the TV signal was cut off, there was nothing on the screen but a desert of snow. The mutation of the universe beyond all human knowledge and imagination, beyond their mental endurance, the world is on the brink of madness. The buzzer went off for the second time, and the quark was hit for the second time. Without warning, faster than the blink of an eye, the universe was turned around again, the dark night sky, the glittering stars, the human universe was back. "Good Heavens, you are doing God's work!" Said Uncle Dishatti. The people at the nuclear center had gathered outside in the Gobi Desert, under the intoxicating stars. "Yes, the unrelenting search for the source of matter has given us the power of God in ways we could never have dreamed of," Jonnes said. "but we're still people, and who knows what's going to happen," Ding Yi said. Stars were shining in the night sky, and the unseen music filled the universe. "O God..." Uncle Dishatti lay down against the stars.

标题: 微观尽头
作者: 刘慈欣
字数: 4134
简介: 今天夜里，人类将试图击破夸克。这个壮举将在位于罗布泊的东方核子中心完成。核子中心看上去只是沙漠中一群优雅的白色建筑，巨大的加速器建在沙漠地下